Bertus john yeager



B. J. YEAGER.

THILL COUPLING.

Patented Feb.' 2, 1897.

(No Model.)

I. I. I

. l/VVE/VTOH ATTORNEYS Arnivr FFlCEt BERTUS JOHN YEAGER, OF MONTAGUE, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO THOMAS J. MGKINSTRY, OF SAME PLACE.

THlLL COUPLlNG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 576,182, dated February 2, 1897. Application filed May 7, 1896- Serial No. 590,604. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BERTUS JOHN YEAGER, of Montague, in the county of Muskegon and State of Michigan, have invented a new and Improved Thill-Coupling, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved thill-coupling for buggies and like vehicles, and which is simple and I0 durable in construction, arranged to permit of conveniently attaching or detaching the shaft, and to prevent all rattling.

The invention consists principally of a frame, a clip supporting in one side a bolt for the eye of the shaft, the free end of the bolt being adapted to be engaged by a pivoted arm forming part of the frame and locked in place by a locking-plate pivoted on the clip-frame and provided with a spring engag- 2o ing the eye of the shaft.

The invention also consists of certain parts and details and combinations of the same, as will be fully described hereinafter and then pointed out in the claim. i

Reference is to lie had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the im- 0 provement as applied. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the same. Fig. is a plan view of the rear end of the shaft. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the locking-plate, and Fig. 5 is a plan View of the improvement with the 3 5 pivoted arm in section and in an open position and the locking-plate removed.

On the axle A is secured a clip B, of the usual construction and provided with a forwardly-extendingintegral frame 0, from one side of which extends a bolt D, adapted to receive the eye of a shaft E, said eye being slipped sidewise upon the bolt, after which the free end of the latter is engaged in a recess 0, formed in the free end of an arm 0 5 forming part of the other side of the frame 0, as is plainly shown in Fig. 5.

In order to hold the pivot-arm C in place when the shaft-eye is in position on the bolt D, I provide a locking-plate F, fulcrumed at its rear end on a transverse pivot G, held in the rear part of the frame C, said lockingplate F normally resting on the top of the frame, but being free to swing upward and rearward to release the pivot-arm C When removing or inserting the shaft. The forward end of the plate F is provided with two downwardly-extending lugs F, one of which is adapted to engage the outer face of the rigid side of the frame 0, and the other lug is adapted to engage the outer face of the arm 0 when the'latter is in a closed position, that is, engages the free end of the bolt D. On the plate F is also secured or formed a spring F which extends downward into the frame 0 and is then bent upwardly and forwardly 6 5 to engage with its free curved end F the rear part of the eye of the shaft E to prevent all rattling.

Now it will be seen that the device described is very simple and durable in construction, is composed of but few parts, and permits of conveniently attaching the shaft or removing the same whenever desired.

Having thus fully described my invention,

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- A thill-coupling, comprising a frame projecting from a clip and having a rigid side, a pivoted arm at the other side of the frame, a bolt extending from the rigid side of the frame to be engaged at its free end by said pivoted arm, a locking-plate pivoted on the bolt-frame and provided with lugs for engaging the sides of the clip-frame, and a spring forming part of said locking-plate and extending into said clip-frame and adapted to engage with its free end the eye of the shaft,

substantially as shown and described.

BERTUS JOHN YEAGER.

Witnesses:

MAURICE DOWNEY, DURK HAAN. 

